Fangs and Ruin
by moonsdoor
Summary: Across town, another girl and a vampire were living a bittersweet romance. Jessica Stanley didn't know it, but hers wouldn't be a romance. Jessica/James. Dubious consent. Graphic.


_A/N: I've changed some things about canon!Jessica but she's still her bubbly, competitive, slightly mean self. I hope you like the story!_

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><p><strong>Fangs and Ruin<strong>

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Chapter 1: Cold Heaven

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_Well, sure, go for the quiet, boring girl, why don't you? _Jessica thought with spite, watching as Edward sat next to Bella at lunch. Rumor had it that there was something going on between them. People had seen them get cozy and friendly in Biology.

For years, she had tried getting Edward's attention, and just when she had given up, thinking he's a lost cause or just not into girls, he went and got himself involved with Bella Swan.

So _fine_, Bella was nice. And she liked her well enough. But that didn't mean _Edward_ had to like her.

Jessica had worked hard to get where she was; she had wasted many summers helping at community centers, coaching the middle school cheerleading team, going to UN clubs, hosting the now extinct German club and more recently, running for school president. It had been a tie between her and some geek, Newt Grant, but she was still proud to be co-running Forks High. Not to mention she was captain of the voleyball team, still had time to party with friends, and was pretty popular all around.

Now, could Bella Swan do all of _that_?

If there was a grade for living, she'd get an A and a golden star for being a responsible and fun sixteen-year old who wasn't a nerd, but was still on top of her game.

A + was reserved for when she'd finally convince Mike Newton they were meant to be.

_Oh yeah. He likes Bella too. _

Things had started going haywire ever since Bella had arrived in town. Her female friends seemed to like the newcomer's devil-may-care personality. They clung to her for advice on fashion and school, even though Bella mostly turned a blind eye. And the boys? Well, let's just say Jessica had to sit and watch as the skinny new girl took away not only an excrush_,_ but a potential boyfriend too.

It just wasn't fair.

At home, things weren't much better.

Her mother had noticed she was less cheerful than usual and the only advice she had to give was,

"Hit the gym more often. Get your blood pumping and your body in shape and see how quickly you get back on track."

Jessica was a little skeptical. "I'm already working out so much. I'm not going to magically grow a couple of inches, you know. Mike will still be into Bella."

The topic of Jessica's height, or lack thereof, was always a point of contention between her and her mother.

"None of that whining, Jess. It's not your height we need to work on. It's your attitude. Failure isn't in our DNA, remember? That Swan girl is a sheep. You're a _lioness_. You have to show that to Mike. You won't let her take what's yours, will you?"

Darlene Stanley always knew what she was talking about. She had married one of the wealthiest men in town and had a very fufilling job at Forks Federal Bank.

So, Jessica did as she was told and spent her free Friday evening doing ellipticals at the local gym. She had her headphones on and she was picturing kicking Edward Cullen in the face while she listened to Jessica Simpson. It was cathartic, but it didn't exactly make her forget neither he nor Mike liked her. But she was going to get out of Forks someday and find an amazing boyfriend who would be hotter than Edward and Mike combined, and he'd drive a bigger Volvo and shower her with attention.

It would all work out.

Around ten PM, one of the janitors shook her shoulder. They were closing.

Jessica was barely standing. She took a quick shower and walked out of the gym, her hair still wet.

It was now November and the weather consisted of sleet and harsh winds. Even with her woolen hat on, the cold still got in her bones, making her teeth chatter. At this rate, she'd likely catch the flu. Games were coming up. She couldn't afford that.

But she didn't care. For once in her life, she wanted to get sick and sit in bed and not have to move a finger.

But such dark thoughts never lasted very long with her. She was not a defeatist. She was a fighter.

Soon, she was crossing the town square and diving between two white picket-fence houses, humming to herself. Even though she didn't usually do this at night, she would take a shortcut through the woods to get home faster.

The forest didn't scare her, like it did all the other kids in her class. It had never exercised much fascination on her and she was happy ignoring it. What could be scary about moss and trees?

It's not like there really _were_ creepy creatures waiting for you to turn your back so they could jump at you and eat you -

Her foot snapped a twig in half. Jessica turned abruptly. She could have sworn she heard a muffled falling sound behind her. But there was no one there.

_Oookay, you're really gonna be that girl?_

She shook her head and smiled. Just her imagination.

She kept on walking down the well-trodden path, meandering through shadowy branches and thick, spiky brambles, knowing for a fact she'd reach her house in complete safety.

She always did.

She got out her phone to text Angela. It was a bit late, but maybe she'd want to sleep over, or watch a movie.

Her fingers were pressing the buttons, the message was almost sent. And then, in a flash, she dropped her phone to the ground.

She heard a sickening crunch, like someone had stepped on it, but she saw nothing, because her body had been tackled to the ground.

The dull pain started in her forehead and traveled down to her spine and legs, immobilizing her.

Her chest was being weighed down by a firm body.

She opened her eyes and blinked.

Red eyes looked back into hers. White lips and razor-sharp teeth, which seemed to cut the night sky in half.

Jessica opened her mouth, but no scream came out. She was frozen, trapped underneath a cold body.

The man or beast – she could not tell – smiled a vicious smile and licked his lips. She wrenched her head away and his pointy canines grazed the skin of her cheek.

She saw it in slow motion, what he was about to do, what he would do to her.

And, terrified out of her wits, teeth chattering, she exhaled and laughed.

A crazy, freaked-out laugh.

A "_no way is this happening to me_" laugh.

Hysterical. Hilarious. Horrifying.

He grabbed her chin and turned her head towards him.

"Something funny?"

His voice was gravelly, rich and amused.

"No. No. _Please_. Let me go. This isn't real," she mumbled, trying to push him off. "This can't be real."

"Oh, it's _real_."

She had heard about vampires. A couple of years ago her mother and her friends had had a girls' night in and they'd all watched _Interview With A Vampire_. Jessica had sat at the foot of the stairs, hidden away, curious to know why they were gushing over men in wigs and frilly waistcoats. At the age of nine, she had been utterly disappointed by vampires, even if they had been played by Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Her nine year-old self kept thinking, _They're so pale and gross and old-looking and **mean**._

When his teeth sank into the tender flesh of her neck, she screamed like she had never screamed before. He put a hand over her mouth to silence her and she was so caught up in the sheer intensity of her pain that she didn't think to bite him back.

She could feel the blood spilling out of her, drop by drop into his hot, hungry mouth. It was like being pricked, a syringe being plunged into her veins. At first, she only felt ripped apart. A crack inside of her that just grew bigger and bigger. She squirmed on the frozen ground, writhing like a helpless animal, trying to piece herself back together.

But then his tongue started licking and sucking at her skin and her blood rushed through her veins, quicker and quicker, to reach his mouth, the crack growing bigger. Her body responded.

Her screaming subsided. She closed her eyes and choked on a soft moan.

_God. _

It felt good.

He released his hold on her mouth. She couldn't help it.

A guttural groan was wrenched from her lips.

He growled into her skin and his other hand wound around her hip, pulling her to him.

Jessica gasped.

She was _right_ against him. She could feel him through her clothes. He was cold, unbearably cold.

She was afraid she might lose herself completely to this feeling. The volleyball captain, the popular happy girl who was co-running Forks High with that nerd, Newt Grant, couldn't get an orgasm from a monster's bite, in the middle of the night.

She had barely reached second-base. Yeah, she liked to brag that she had done more, but who didn't?

Her own clumsy fingers had never made her feel like this.

Tears ran down her cheeks but she was in cold heaven.

"Ugh! No! No! _Yes!_" she moaned one last time, as her body crashed from the waves of pleasure.

She didn't even notice when his teeth left her skin.

He was looking at her again, his eyes a darker, carnal shade now. He was clearly sated.

"You liked that, didn't you?"

He smirked. Blood, _her_ blood, spilled down his teeth on her cardigan.

Jessica screamed and tried to push herself away.

"Get off! I hate you! Get off! Help! Help!"

He wrestled her down and turned her over, pressing her face into the rotten leaves.

"Listen here, little girl, you're one step away from death."

"Get off! Get off me!"

"_Brat_. Do you want to die?"

Jessica sucked in a deep breath and tasted the black soil under her lips.

"N-no."

"Good. Then, shut up."

He was strong, _too_ strong even for a grown man. He was holding her down with one hand only. The other had found its way into her damp hair.

"Now. Answer me. Did you like it?"

Jessica shook her head, whimpering.

He wrenched her hair painfully.

"Did you like it, brat?"

"No!"

_Don't be stupid! Tell him what he wants to hear!_

But somehow, her pride wouldn't let her. She was terrified but she was not going to give him _that_. No way in hell. Not Jessica Stanley.

"You know how I know you did?" he asked, teasing the hairs on her nape.

"Your blood tasted fucking _delicious_ when you came."

Jessica wanted to be buried six feet under. She blushed, feeling more tears spill down her cheeks.

"Dirty little girls like you are hard to find. So, I'm not gonna deplete you right now. I'm gonna save you for later. You get to live a bit _longer_."

Jessica gulped. This wasn't happening to her. This couldn't be real.

"But if you tell anyone, I will snap that pretty neck so fast you won't have time to blink. Are we clear?"

Jessica nodded stiffly, but inside her head, she was already walking to the police station, filing a report, giving a description, telling them about the attack -

"Oh, really, you're gonna call the cops on me, huh? You think they're gonna believe you?" he teased, a sinister laugh punctuating his words.

Jessica froze.

"That's right, princess. I can read your thoughts. Careful next time, or you might get me _angry_. If you do anything, I'll know. If you tell anyone, I'll know."

_How? _she thought desperately.

"I'm a tracker. It's in my blood." He laughed again.

Jessica choked back a sob.

"Please, don't kill me."

"_Now_ you're talking."

He pulled her body up until her back rested against his chest.

"Hold still."

She saw from the corner of her eye how he bit into his own wrist. For one horrifying moment she thought she would have to drink the blood. But no.

He dabbed his fingers in the red liquid that spurted from his wrist and swabbed it gently at her throat.

She felt a burning sting which turned numb by degrees.

"I'll be back for you, _brat_. Remember. No one must know."

One moment he was there, the next, he was gone.

Jessica fell back on her hands and knees on the ground. She stood still for several moments, afraid that any move might call him back.

She wasn't sure she was still in Forks. She wasn't sure about anything anymore.

She got up shakily and checked her body in a panic. No wounds, no visible injuries. Her palms were scraped, there was a bit of blood on her cardigan and she looked ruffled. Her neck was another business entirely. She'd have to pull her scarf tight to hide the punctures.

She bent down to retrieve her phone. It was broken.

_If you do anything, I'll know. If you tell anyone, I'll know._

_I'm a tracker. It's in my blood._

Jessica hugged herself. Edward Cullen and Mike Newton were far away now.

She wiped away her tears and put her broken phone in her pocket.

She had to get home. She had to clean herself up. She had to forget.

Jessica Stanley was not going to go crazy. She wasn't going to believe in vampires. She wasn't going to believe the two holes in her neck were real.

This was _not_ happening to _her_.

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><p>Near dawn, after many hours of tossing and turning in bed, fighting the urge to jump at every small sound in the house, she finally gave up on sleep. She locked herself in the bathroom and stared at the reflection in the mirror. Everything looked normal, almost. The two holes on her neck were only small scratches now. His blood had healed her. Until next time. Until he pierced her skin again.<p>

_I'll be back for you, brat._

Jessica shuddered. He wasn't going to come back. It had been a nightmare. She was going to wake up soon.

Across town, another girl and a vampire were living a bittersweet romance.

Jessica Stanley didn't know it, but hers wouldn't be a romance.


End file.
